


Epilogue: Vacation

by RedRavens



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, Gen, Missing Limbs, Shepard deserves to be protected at all costs, some minor body horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-13
Updated: 2017-02-13
Packaged: 2018-09-23 22:52:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9685412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedRavens/pseuds/RedRavens
Summary: After the Reapers are dead Shepard receives a gift to help in her recovery, a nice vacation after everything had a nice ring to it, until she jinxed it.





	

**Author's Note:**

> for Holiday Harbinger's challenge and as a gift for ask-manda-of-the-6 on tumblr hope you like it! :)

ATTICAN BETA - THESEUS - FEROS - 2188

“What the actual fuck?” Shepard whispered as they stared at the giant slimy tentacle-covered ball supporting itself above the abyss, “I thought I had dealt with it already!”

“That… complicates things,” Garrus said after a pause, “I didn't like dealing with it back in ‘83, don't much care about it now either.”

Shepard hummed in agreement as she looked around for the nodes supporting another part of the Thorian of all things. Of course, back in 2183 she hadn’t thought the thing they had destroyed had been all there was of the plant, something that had survived over fifty thousand years couldn’t be killed just by dropping it two hundred meters into the wheel they had found it on.

“I just wanted a bloody vacation!” Jane grumbled, frowning at the sentient plant.

“Honey, the fact you dragged me to Feros of all places doesn’t speak well for your idea of Vacation,” Garrus sighed, reading his assault riffle as they both heard the grumble dragging feet of the of Creepers.

“I heard they had build a nice Spa around here… thought we could relax.” She shrugged, her voice only mildly apologetic; they were both guilty of enjoying a firefight when the fate of the galaxy wasn’t on the line.

LOCAL CLUSTER - SOL SYSTEM - EARTH - JULY/2187

She had been asleep most of the day, the wounds on her back, on her hands and most of her left side were healing slowly, her cybernetics not of much use after the Reaper Killing Wave had effectively short-circuited everything.

And yet hope remained. For her, for the galaxy.

When she woke up briefly in the middle of the day her Turian was gone, the tablet he had been reading the day before on the chair and she almost felt alone in the room, almost.

After she had been found on the destruction of the Citadel, a group of volunteers had come together to guard her and hers, her N7 peers, members of the Turian military and STG alike, no one from the medical staff was aware they were under watch, but Shepard was grateful, she was in no state to fight should indoctrinated forces come for her.

Just because the Reapers had been effectively killed didn’t mean they extended the same courtesy to their slaves.

“Who is it this time?” She whispered to the silent room, moving sightly to glance around, her vision limited, her hearing not so much, much less her sense of touch. There was no rustle of clothes, no heavy breathing just the feeling of someone standing close to her, close enough to touch.

She moved her hand with all the slowness her recovery granted her, grasping thin air with a laugh.

“STG this time?” She murmured to herself a satisfied smile on her lips, “you guys aren't half as subtle as you think.”

“Only because it's you, Commander.” The STG operative said, decloaking at the end of her bed, where she couldn't possibly reach in her current situation.

“Kirrahe!” She smiled, lighting up at the sight of the Salarian Major, “what are you doing here?”

“This is a volunteer job, remember? I came so you could rest in your hour of need,” the Salarian said, moving to her side once again. “Also to say thank you, we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you.”

“Oh god,” she whispered, her face a picture of dawning horror.

“The surviving member of the Council is already hailing you as the Saviour of the Galaxy,” the Major laughed while Shepard just closed her eyes as if in pain.

“Who?”

“Sparatus, who else?” came the dual voice of her boyfriend as he entered her room, for a seven-foot tall Turian he was very light on his feet.

“Councillor Thellus Sparatus? Councillor ‘I-just-finger-quoted-you’ Sparatus?” She asked, following his movements throughout the room.

“You're still not over that?” He asked with an amused snort, taking one of her hands and resting it against his scarred mandible, kissing the inside of her wrist.

“He finger-quoted me, Garrus, he used a human gesture to offend me and he only has three fingers!” She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest, or trying to. “Right.”

When the crucible fired she had been caught in the initial blast of fire and soon after the freezing void before she had been taken away by someone or something. A great part of her left side had suffered nerve damage, her left leg and arm were gone eaten away by fire and subzero temperatures, her face, her neck, her body scarred.

“That's why I came Spectre,” the Salarian said gently, “the Union has agree to grant you a gift, we’ve been in talks with a few stations, and, if you accept, we’d like to give you back your missing leg and hand.”

“What’s the catch?” Garrus asked as he sat by her right side, her left too damaged, too sensitive for him to touch.

“Isn’t Dalatrass Linron still mad at me?” Shepard interrupted before Kirrahe could start with explanations. “Last I heard she was cursing my name.”

“This is from our military branch commander,” the Salarian smiled, “the Dalatrass had nothing to do with it.”

ATTICAN BETA - THESEUS - FEROS - 2188

The sound of soft moaning and dragging feet of the Creepers, echoing through the lower chamber sent a chill through her spine as both of them looked around for the source, they were in a chamber deep under the Prothean ruins, the awful sound of dragging feet echoing everywhere.

“Right, you stay here, I’ll search for higher ground and snipe them down.” Shepard muttered, low enough and just between the two of them.

“Sweetheart I’m clearly the best sniper, you’re better in CQC and-”

“Just because I let you win that one time-”

“Okay first of all I’m shocked, and appalled and beyond hurt you’d do that to me,” Garrus started, switching to his assault riffle as the thumping of feet got louder.

“Sorry honey,” she winked at him, then Throwing the first creeper against the wall with enough force to make the hoard pause for an instant. “Shit we’re out of time, you cover the left?” She grinned at him, sharp, deadly, and Garrus was struck once again by how much he loved her.

“As if you needed to ask. Proximity mine in front of you, for when you let one too close.” He taunted, throwing a mine 5 feet in front of her as a precaution, it never hurt to be careful.

“Ha!” Her laugh was sharp, almost humorless, “funny Garrus.” She switched to incendiary ammo on her pistol, making quick work of the nearest creeper, thank god the damn things didn’t scream, the smell of burnt grass was more than enough to make her unease.

LOCAL CLUSTER - SOL SYSTEM - EARTH - SEPTEMBER/2187

All in all it had taken the STG, with somewhat limited resources almost two months to clone down her limbs and introduce the heavy skin weave she had implanted in her body, something about the cloned parts not being able to handle the strain and weight of the rest of her body without the modifications.

“How is this supposed to work?” She asked with a barely hidden wince. Moving was still uncomfortable but something she insisted on doing on her own when she could.

“We’ll have to removed the scarred tissue, tie up the arteries, muscles, nerves, ligaments and then be on the look out for blood clots, and any potential tissue rejections.” Kirrahe listed, looking at the commander, “we’ll keep you sedated throughout the procedure and then some, if everything works out you should be walking on your own two legs and using your left arm in three-weeks time.” The Salarian smiled, handing her the datapad.

Beside Garrus, Kirrahe and her, Shepard was reasonably sure there was a Turian Ghost hidden somewhere in the room. The whole idea of not being left alone was touching, after so long looking out for everyone, leading high risk missions with just her crew as backup, it was nice to be looked after.

It anything she would bet it was Thelonius in the room, he had been part of Garrus team on Palaven and the one, along with Anzu, an N7 operative on Earth, who had started the whole thing.

She gripped Garrus’ hand, touching his wrist with a finger and tapping it gently, he just sighed, leaning down to kiss her brow. “We’ll be there.” He muttered so only she could hear.

“Do it.” She nodded, Kirrahe giving the okay for the doctors to come in.

ATTICAN BETA - THESEUS - FEROS - 2188

As the last creeper fell to Garrus’ proximity mine he approached his girlfriend, putting a hand on her shoulder, he could tell she was exhausted, the firefight more than she was able to handle at the moment, something which made both of them unhappy, even if for different reasons.

“How are you holding up?” He asked, tugging her nearer him, taking account of how her left arm was stiff, her legs were fairing better, but she was far from peak physical form, it didn’t bother him, not one bit, but it did seem to bother her.

“I felt like someone chewed me up, spit me out and them rode over me with a Mako,” she sighed, sitting on the floor, the smell of burnt grass all around them. “At least it’s over for now, I’ve half a mind of just shove everyone onto the ship and just leave this planet.” She grumbled, legs splayed out in front of her, leaning back on her right hand. “Hand’s a bit stiff,” she shrugged.

“I noticed,” he looked her over, “I think we’re gonna have to change out layout a bit, honey.” He smiled gently at her, offering a hand to help her up.

“Yeah I figured, I’ll watch your six then?” She sighed and took his hand after a moment of hesitation, a smile tugging at her lips.

“Just don’t use it as an excuse to ogle my ass,” he sighed, as if put upon, but the laughter on his eyes betrayed that he was pleased and relieved.

“As if you don’t ogle mine,” she grinned, switching to her submachine gun and biotics.

“Never said I didn’t, you have a very nice ass,” he smiled at her again, looking her up and down, “ready for round two?”

“Let me catch my breath, damn it I hate this!” she swore, trying to control her breathing.

“Take it slow, I’ll stand watch, we have time.”

LOCAL CLUSTER - SOL SYSTEM - EARTH - SEPTEMBER/2187

She woke up slowly, testing her extremities, stretching her right leg, then her left, getting an uncomfortable tug as answer.

“Sweetheart you know better than to do that,” came Garrus’ voice from her right, he had another datapad with him, and she could faintly remember Victus asking him something or other. She couldn’t afford to pay attention at the time.

“Testing,” she mumbled, closing her eyes again, tired beyond measure.

“Rest,” she heard him mutter, before his mouth plates pressed against her hair. “I’ll keep watch over you.”

She woke up later after the sun had set, her Garrus sleeping on the chair, his head thrown back, throat bared as he bend in awkward positions, the datapad forgotten on his lap and almost falling to the ground, she let it be, looking around the dark room.

Everything was fine, everything was attached, everything-

“You should rest Commander,” came a voice from her right, hidden in shadow she was only able to make out the N7 insignia on the woman’s breast plate.

“Meds must've worn off,” she sighed, attempting a shrug, a sharp twinge on her left side reminding her that yes, the surgery had been a success. She couldn’t help but start laughing, at everything and everyone, at herself, at her new limbs, her boyfriend waking up startled by her laugh.

“It’s over,” she smiled at him, her face and body scarred, “it’s finally over, I’m free of this.” She took a moment to just stare ahead and think about what was in front of her.

“What are you thinking of Commander?” The N7 smiled, her sharp blue eyes taking in the scene before her.

“I want to go on vacation.” She smiled.

ATTICAN BETA - THESEUS - FEROS - 2188

The trek down had been easy, the Thorian hadn’t been able to create multiple clones at the drop of a heatsink back in 2183, it hadn’t changed in the five years since they had been on Feros, a fact which they were both thankful for.

Shepard had recovered after the frontal assault from the creepers and they were steadily going down, the plan was simple, get down to the air supply and drop the nerve agent Lizbeth and Juliana had come up with, hopefully it would leave the damn thing dormant again. If she recalled correctly it only left the colonists sleepy for a little while and they could all use a good night’s sleep, in her professional opinion.

“How you holding up?” Garrus asked, voice measured, his sharp eyes seeing everything in the dimly lit passage.

“I’m bored,” she snorted, submachine gun pointing down, listening for the dragging feet from above them, “left arm’s a bit stiff and leg’s starting to feel the strain, but I’m okay Garrus, really.” She added with a pointed look when he glanced at her.

“Next time around, I’m choosing the vacation spot,” he said with a hum, pointing at the water valves up ahead.

“Hey!”

“Sweetheart you wanted to go to Noveria,” he said, mandibles fluttering in the Turian version of an eye roll.

“I just wanted to visit Lorik Qui’in, to see how he’s doing,” she mumbled, taking the grenade with the Anti-Thorian gas from her supply.

“Something I should know about?” he asked scanning the immediate perimeter.

“Yes Garrus, I’m totally sleeping with him when you, Anzu, Thelonius or Kirrahe aren’t looking,” she did roll her eyes, taking the pin off the grenade and throwing it into the water supply, it wouldn’t actually explode, not anymore, but it would release the nerve gas into the water, “well that was anti-climatic.”

“So about Qui’in,” Garrus started before the thumping of feet started above them. “Shepard I’m starting to think you’re jinxing us on purpose,” he grumbled.

“Don’t tell me you’re not having fun!” she smiled, reloading her weapon again with incendiary charges.

“I am, but if that gas releases in the next three minutes you’re going to sleep and I’m gonna be here alone fighting Thorian creepers, I rather not do that if it’s all the same to you.” He adjusted his assault riffle, the sniper useless in CQC.

“Oh,” she had forgotten, in her current state the gas would also affect her.

“ _Futuo_!” He snarled, hoisting the riffle and turning to her and at the same time.

“Do it,” she sighed back at him, holding still as he picked her up, her legs automatically going to his waist and holding herself as still as she could. “Sorry?”

He glanced down at her, lifting her face up and stealing a kiss, “nowhere else I’d rather be.”

He took of running.

ATHENA NEBULA - PARNITHA SYSTEM - THESSIA - FEBRUARY/2188

She was leaning back against him as they pretended to watch the news, something about the Salarians demanding reparations before anyone else and Victus almost killing the current Dalatrass, she honestly couldn’t be bothered to pay attention, looking at the datapad in her hands.

“So-”

“We’re not going to Noveria,” he nudged her head with his lips, kissing her temple.

“Spoilsport,” she grumbled goo-natured, “Illium?”

“That’s Omega in a fancy dress, love, what could you possibly want there?” he hummed against her, the vibrations coming from his chest making her smile.

“What of Feros?” She clicked on a picture with a spa in the clouds of Feros, near the old Prothean ruins, showing his the accommodations.

“Not afraid of the Thorian?” He glanced down at her again, running his hand down her left arm, massaging it the way he had learnt was best for her recovery.

“Shiala said it was dead, besides I really want to try their hot tub with you in it.” She grinned up at him, asking for another kiss.

“Alright, Feros it is.”

**Author's Note:**

> Index:  
> CQC - Close Quarters Combat;  
> Futuo - 'Fuck' in Palaveni, kudos to Barbex here on AO3 and on Tumblr for this :)


End file.
